Environmental destruction

Environmental destruction

From Media Indonesia

As a grandmother and a housewife, I am deeply concerned by the destruction of hundreds of trees in Situbondo, East Java, as shown recently on TV and reported in the media. Some of the trees, including banyan trees, might have been hundreds of years old. I wonder who was behind such a violent act. The mob felled the trees indiscriminately, without the least concern about the impact of their actions.

Trees are a valuable asset that give comfort and protection to the people and provide a nice landscape. Why should the people take out their anger on innocent trees (banyan trees) simply because the banyan tree is the symbol of Golkar Party.

Let us compare the way our Filipino brothers recently held demonstrations. The demonstrations involved a large number of people, perhaps millions. Yet the people were calm and sympathetic. No trees were felled or uprooted.

My question now is how long must we wait for full-grown trees to reappear and provide us with a nice landscape. Who will be responsible for the expense of planting new trees? The answer is none other than the people who already have miserable lives.

SITI SALAMAH

Jakarta